Yuki Yoda: "Saiai no Hito: The Other Side of Nihon Chinbotsu" drama, episodes five and six recap

 

 Air Dates: October 10th until December 12, 2021 on the Paravi cable channel

 Episodes are fifteen to 21 minutes in length, subs were done by Irozuku Subs and they pick up the under the radar dramas which are much more interesting than prime time shows.

Main Cast: The episodes aren't too long in length which means there's also not a large cast. Just two main characters who are the top two and then there's a pair of secondary characters, there may be one person introduced later on. Yuki fans should be happy as she's in 90% of the scenes and the restaurant she works at has remained unnamed through the series. So why don't we call it Yoda's Place and who doesn't have an appetite for her!!!!

Yuki Yoda as Ai Yamada.... Besides being a waitress at Yoda's Place Ai also attends a vocational school as her dream is to be an artist. At the restaurant many of her drawings and paintings are on the wall. The location for this drama is Tokyo but Ai grew up in Hokkaido, she's 21 in age and thirteen years ago her parents died in a car crash and she blames herself for that tragedy.

 Mizuki Itagaki as Kiseki Makita.... His first name means Miracle but Kiseki thinks his life has been anything but one up until now. He seems to be about the same age as Ai, perhaps a year or so older. In the third episode we learned his father owns the Makita General Hospital and Kiseki will be next in line to be the director. He's currently an intern and at the beginning of the fourth show his family fled to Switzerland, so didn't Kiseki though he returned.

 Shodai Fukuyama as Makoto Yamada.... Ai's older brother by about five years, he still lives in Hokkaido and is so protective of his younger sister.

Kohei Fukuyama as Junta Yuki.... Don't think these bottom two characters are related in real life. Junta also grew up in Hokkaido but has moved to Tokyo, he always has a guitar on his back but his musical career has been a failure. He hasn't admitted it but Junta has such a crush on Ai and he sends Makoto daily reports to let him know that she's is safe and sound! However at the end of the fifth episode he did confess to Ai that he had such a crush on her but sadly for him she still had only eyes for Kiseki.

 This is a spinoff from the "Nihon Chinbotsu: Kiobo no Hito" drama which aired at the same time but that show was a prime time drama. I didn't view it  and the the main story had to deal with scientists planning to bury pollutants off the coast of Japan. They were warned not to as it could cause the major area of Kanto to sink into the sea! This show begins off from where that series ended and as far as I know nothing in the area had sank.... yet! But if you read the first recap there was a sinking which was a small island off the coast of Izu that's south of Tokyo.

 So these were a pair of decent shows though will admit thought they would be a bit better. With the possibility of the Kanto region sinking into the sea wouldn't you think there would be a lot of intense action? That wasn't the case but the fifth episode started off well and the sixth ended on a nice cliffhanger, in between though a bit more action was definitely needed.

 As you can see in the first two screenshots above much of Tokyo did sink though most buildings were still standing. My one complaint about these pair of shows was none of the scenes took place in the areas affected by the sinking so we didn't see any hurt or dead people, what the area looked like closeup and other things you may see in a disaster. When the last recap ended nothing had sank yet, the trio of Ai, Kiseki and Junta were on their way to catch a bus to Hokkaido. That island was safe and living there was Ai's older brother Makoto. But before the group reached the bus Kiseki had a change of heart and said he needed to return to the Makita General Hospital which his family owns. Though he's just an intern Kiseki felt he should remain with the patients and do whatever he can to help them. Of course Ai didn't want to see her first love put himself in such danger but Kiseki talked her into it, if all goes well he'll be joining her in Hokkaido soon.

 But the problem with that is Ai and Junta never made the bus as the trip was cancelled due to the sinking of Tokyo and all of the aftershocks. The pair for now are holed up in Ai's tiny apartment and of course there's no power or fresh water. With no power that of course meant Ai's phone eventually died out so she couldn't contact Kiseki or vice versa. But there was a nearby center run by the government handing out fresh water, there Junta heard some disturbing news. He tried to keep it hidden from Ai but she can read him like a hawk, Junta had to reveal the terrible news that the Makita General Hospital had plummeted into the sea, there were no known survivors! However Junta had heard some patients, including possibly Kiseki, had fled to another nearby hospital named Setagaya, why not investigate that to see if Ai's love had escaped there safely? That the pair did the following morning, couldn't travel at night as there was zero power in the region and seemed like Ai lived in a remote area of Tokyo.

 So a trip was made the following morning to that hospital where Kiseki may have fled to along with some patients. Wonder if they have a generator there as everywhere else in Tokyo is powerless but that wasn't the case with this hospital. However this trip wasn't a happy one as Ai learned that Kiseki never arrived at this hospital, others did but they had no idea what became of him so it appeared to Ai he got washed away into the sea. Of course she was beyond upset and as was the case for her parent's death Ai blamed herself for what may have happened to Kiseki but once again she shouldn't be blaming herself. There to console the distraught Ai was her childhood friend Junta and I've thought since the first episode he's had such a crush on Ai but has never admitted it. As a matter of fact don't think Ai had ever noticed his infatuation with her nor her older brother Makoto.

 But as you can see a bit above Junta broke down on the roof of the hospital and told Ai 'He loved' her', not just once but at least three times. That did shock her but during that mini scene she never uttered a word in response, would think because she still has feelings for Kiseki. Soon the power did come back on in Tokyo and kind of makes you wonder how did they get the lines repaired so quickly? So now it just became a waiting game for Ai and Junta, he practiced his guitar seeing as how there was zero else to do while Ai began on a painting at home. But not just at home as she also did a huge mural at the entrance of a nearby tunnel, in the mural was a figure of a little girl. It was one just like Ai had at her restaurant and Kiseki had liked it so much, at this location is where Ai told Junta that she did like him quite a bit but in a 'brotherly' way which he understood completely. Getting near the end and hours after that talk with Junta who should arrive at the location but Kiseki! And of course walking by while he was staring at the mural was Ai(!) as the pair had a tearful reunion.

 Think I made the first two segments a bit too long as there's just one scene left. Kiseki explained he was at the location because he had lost his phone in the area when he was helping patients flee from Makita General Hospital. He had been safe and sound as Kiseki was far away from his father's hospital when it sank into the ocean. But with no phone and the power out there was no way for him to contact Ai but he really didn't say what he had been doing during that time frame. The lovebirds headed back to Ai's apartment and in a shock shortly after their arrival Ai's doorbell rang.... it was her brother who came all the way from Hokkaido! This was his first time meeting Kiseki, Ai told him to lie about his profession so he told Makoto he was a hair stylist which somewhat pleased Makoto. As mentioned a few times before he hates doctors and Kiseki couldn't let on he was training to be one and was also next in line to be the director of his father's hospital.

 Soon after Makoto came close to fainting, Kiseki thought he was dehydrated from that long ride from that drive from Hokkaido and sent Ai out to get some juice. Kiseki handled the situation like a pro and before Ai returned Makoto was close to normal, he realized that Kiseki was more than a hair stylist. Kiseki has become much more open as this series has gone on so he did admit to the big brother that he was a doctor in training and not to hate him for what took place with Makoto's parents thirteen years ago. For the first time in his life Makoto told his biggest secret and Kiseki had to vow never to tell another soul. The secret was that Makoto has never hated doctors but blamed them to spare Ai's feelings about their parent's death. In a shocker Makoto deep down still does blame Ai for their death and how he hates himself for that. This recap began off with some of Tokyo sinking into the sea and nothing more was mentioned about if it could happen again.... that is until the final seconds. You can see in the bottom screenshot above that the government has issued a warning to all of it's citizens as now it's not just Tokyo that will sink into the ocean but.... the entire nation of Japan!!!! So that's one heck of a cliffhanger to bring us into the final two shows, haven't viewed either as the final episode hasn't been subbed yet but of course really hoping for an exciting climax. That's the next post and guess I didn't make those first two segments all that long as so wasn't this last one.